Child&#39;s drinking cup



Feb. 12, 1952 K. A. DINGELDEIN 2,585,445

CHILDS DRINKING CUP Filed Oct. 14. 1948 Patented Feb. 12, 1952 cnrLnsnamnmc CUP KarlA. Dingeldein, Chicago, Ill., assignor to St. LouisMetalcrafts, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., a 'corpo ration of MissouriApplication October 14, 1948, Serial No. 54,420,

This invention relates to drinking cups, and with regard to certain morespecific features, to metal drinking cups, particularly for youngchildren.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofa drinking cup, particularly for young children, adapted quickly totrain them to drink from cups in general; the provision of a cup of theclass described which may be easily handled by such children; theprovision of a cup of this class which can be thoroughly sterilized; andthe provision of parts therefor which may be easily manufactured. Otherobjects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations ofelements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which willbe exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possibleembodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is an exploded view showing two parts of the cup about to beassembled; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section showing the completed cup.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, numeral I shows anupper container in the form of an inverted-dome-like basin 3 from whichextends an integral lower inverted-dome-like bulb or pocket 5 and aroundthe rim of which is a smoothly outwardly flaring encircling integral,turned-down, open lip I. The cross-section of this lip is substantiallysemi-circular, making the lip semi-toroidal in its complete shape. Thecontours of the basin 3 and bulb 5 are smooth, the horizontal diameterof the bulb being in general smaller than the horizontal diameter of thebasin. This provides for the liquid-containing parts a shape without acrease, as indicated by the arrow 9.

At numeral l l is shown a base formed with an annular inwardly open beadl3 and a lower bulged toroidal part [5. This provides a curvature ll.Thus when the parts are assembled (Fig. 2), curve 9 is connected withcurve I! by the re-entrant curve l9. By this means a desired artistichour-glass exterior curvature may be obtained in the assembled devicewithout the requirement of complicated manufacturing operations foreither part I or II and, what is also iml Claim. (CI. 6513) as indicatedat 2|.

portant for ease of cleaning and sterilizing, with-f sired, the metalmay finally be suitably plated,

but in the case of some metals such as stainless steel, final plating isnot necessary.

The lower end of part I I is preferably left open, The upperopening 23of the base II is of such a size as to accept the bulb 5 with a strongclutching or wedging fit when the parts are assembled in a suitablepress. The head functions as a restraining band to maintain the desiredhold.

The bead l3 may further be held to the bulb 5 by means of solder 25, orthe like. This may be introduced through the opening 2| upon turningover the pressed-together assembly. This provision of the open bottom 2|in the base [5 allows for the introduction of attaching material 25 intothe bead l3 without spoiling the appearance of the outside of thecontainer I above the bead IS.

The parts may be made by drawing, spinning or the like, their shapesbeing conducive to operations easily carried out along such lines.

The resulting cup is easy to keep sterile because the continuous smoothinside of the container l is not conducive to inaccessible lodgment ofseptic material. Since the hollow bulb 5 is smaller in diameter than thebasin 3 and involves no crease, it is quite easy to wipe out and dry thecup during sterilization and. cleaning.

The lip 1 has its edge turned down but is not rolled under, as indicatedat 21. This has the effect of preventing very young children fromattempting very long to suck improperly on the edge of the cup, thusteaching them early properly to drink from any cup. During this stage oflearning they can and do engage the turned-down open lip I with theirgums or teeth forming an effective attachment to the cup independent ofsucking. which they therefore soon give up.

The elevated false bottom provided by the bulb 5 in the assembledcondition tends to elevate the center of gravity of the cup when filledor partially filled. Thus when a child grips the constricted portion inthe region of the bead 13, the cup may more readily be tilted inbringing it to the mouth- Thus the cup handles very easily.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

I claim:

A childs drinking cup comprising an upper inverted-dome-like basin, anupper integral turneddown open lip forming an upper flared rim ofsemi-toroidal shape completely surrounding said 1.")

basin, a surface forming a relatively smaller inverted-dome-like bulbextending downward from. said basin, no succeeding lower diameterthroughout the basin and bulb being larger than any above, the lip,basin and bulb presenting a smooth adapted to form an annular attachmentwith the exterior of said bulb.

KARL A. DINGELDEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number D. 8,465 D. 9,006 D. 32,981 D. 35,477

4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Lyon July 6, 1875 Jones Feb. 15, 1876Holland July 24, 1900 Gnuchtel Dec. 24, 1901 Fenton June-11, 1935Dingeldein June 1, 1948 Leach Jan. 12, 1869 Wetjen Sept. 12, 1871Stewart Oct. 24, 1882 Curtis- Aug. 26, 1884 'Henckel Jan. 9, 1906Hitchcock Apr. 21, 1908 Barnett Aug. 14, 1917 McQuirns Mar. 8, 1921Dexter Jan. 31, 1928 Smith Q Feb. 8, 1938 Morton Aug. 15, 1939 DodgeSept. 5, 1939 Nevin, Mar. 26, 1940 Bush Nov. 26, 1940 Potter Apr. 7,1942 Clovis Nov. 7, 1944-

